C3 and age-related macular degeneration: Complement effectors, such as C3a, C5a and the membrane attack complex (MAC), can induce the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (including TNF-α and IL-1β) and growth factors (e.g., VEGF) in the RPE (Lueck et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2016), a process that has been associated with AMD progression (Natoli et al., 2017b; Touhami et al., 2018).